“Mmm, actually she’s not onboard with me,” he said, not bothering to hide his disappointment with this very recent development. “She’s a physician with the MSF – ah, Doctors Without Borders? She’s part of one of the boards of committee for Kashmir and was called back to the field on an urgent matter. She found out literally hours before the ship departed yesterday and had to catch a red-eye back to India.” He laughed with a touch of ironic wryness. “She was the one who entered my name and then cannot come? She was quite upset, so much so I could not refuse her insistence that at least one of us enjoy the trip.”
And of course there was the underlying implication that he needed to get away from home and distract himself. Sacha’s rage – while prolific and ear-shatteringly vulgar – had mostly been a cover for her pointed concern that her absence would result in Nayan’s refuse to go himself. He appreciated her for that. Besides it was only for a little while…